Room Mate – Episode 1 [The Roommates Welcome You] [First Impression]

In this first episode, you the viewer are introduced to the three roommates living in the giant house you will now be managing. You meet Takumi Ashihara first as he vaults down off the balcony and carries your luggage into the house for you. Next is the blonde Aoi Nishina and the mostly-naked Shinya Miyasaka, and honestly these two remind me of Honey and Kyouya from Ouran High School Host Club except that Aoi looks older and Shinya is a little “edgier”. The ages for the guys aren’t given, but Wikipedia tells me that they have varied ages like the girls from the original series One Room.

So what happens in this first episode? You’re introduced to the guys, and given some of your own backstory via Shinya. That’s about it. Viewers are given a small sampling of the guys’ personalities and treated to some fanservice thanks to Shinya walking around in only a towel. (No complaints!)

There are some differences between One Room and Room Mate, and after the first episode the one that stands out the most to me is that the ages of the characters between One Room made are skewed a little differently; One Room‘s youngest character is 14, whereas in Room Mate it’s 17. Perhaps this was done intentionally, to appeal to different audiences? (Like the production company figures guys are typically more attracted to the young kawaii type, whereas women are maybe more interested in older guys?)

The other difference is that the fanservice is a little different, although that can’t be helped much due to anatomy. By this I mean that in One Room although I only watched the first episode, I remember lots of sexualized shots of the main character Yui who was 17; in Room Mate it’s Shinya who’s sexualized, but he’s 25 so it feels different. That plus it’s more socially acceptable for a man to walk around shirtless, whereas a female revealing their breasts is almost always considered sexual except for when breastfeeding is involved.

But with that all being said, I did enjoy this first episode. I appreciated the fanservice and have no qualms about nudity. Hell they could have a character drop his pants and I’d probably still be ok with it. #stayclassyniko